Books about Scarcity from Amazon.com

?I am not enough! Not smart enough, rich enough, successful enough, or good enough!? This is the trance of scarcity?a self-inflicted premise of ?not-enough-ness? that successfully cripples the lives of people who would otherwise be buoyant and passionate Here, Victoria Castle offers a prescription for realizing abundance and empowerment..
Price: $9.70 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In this series of essays, Murray Bookchin balances his ecological and anarchist vision with the promising opportunities of a "post-scarcity" era. Technological advances during the 20th century have expanded production in the pursuit of corporate profit at the expense of human need and ecological sustainability. New possibilities for human freedom must combine an ecological outlook with the dissolution of hierarchical social relations, capitalism and canonical political orientation. Bookchin's utopian vision, rooted in the realities of contemporary society, remains refreshingly pragmatic. "Book-chin makes a trenchant analysis of modern society and offers a pointed, provocative discussion of the ecological crisis."-Library Journal

Murray Bookchin has been an active voice in the ecology and anarchist movements for more than 40 years.

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Price: $8.84 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The Earth's human population is expected to pass eight billion by the year 2025, while rapid growth in the global economy will spur ever increasing demands for natural resources. The world will consequently face growing scarcities of such vital renewable resources as cropland, fresh water, and forests. Thomas Homer-Dixon argues in this sobering book that these environmental scarcities will have profound social consequences--contributing to insurrections, ethnic clashes, urban unrest, and other forms of civil violence, especially in the developing world.

Homer-Dixon synthesizes work from a wide range of international research projects to develop a detailed model of the sources of environmental scarcity. He refers to water shortages in China, population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, and land distribution in Mexico, for example, to show that scarcities stem from the degradation and depletion of renewable resources, the increased demand for these resources, and/or their unequal distribution. He shows that these scarcities can lead to deepened poverty, large-scale migrations, sharpened social cleavages, and weakened institutions. And he describes the kinds of violence that can result from these social effects, arguing that conflicts in Chiapas, Mexico and ongoing turmoil in many African and Asian countries, for instance, are already partly a consequence of scarcity.

Homer-Dixon is careful to point out that the effects of environmental scarcity are indirect and act in combination with other social, political, and economic stresses. He also acknowledges that human ingenuity can reduce the likelihood of conflict, particularly in countries with efficient markets, capable states, and an educated populace. But he argues that the violent consequences of scarcity should not be underestimated--especially when about half the world's population depends directly on local renewables for their day-to-day well-being. In the next decades, he writes, growing scarcities will affect billions of people with unprecedented severity and at an unparalleled scale and pace.

Clearly written and forcefully argued, this book will become the standard work on the complex relationship between environmental scarcities and human violence.

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Price: $21.13 [Notify me when price goes down.]

As we approach the twenty-first century, we are entering a new era-an era of water scarcity We have taken for granted seemingly endless supplies of water flowing from reservoirs wells, and diversion projects; access to water has been key to food security, industrialization, and the growth of cities. In this book from the Worldwatch Institute, Sandra Postel explains that decades of profligacy and mismanagement of the world's water resources have produced signs of shortages and environmental destruction. She writes with authority and clarity of the limits-ecological, economic, and political-of this vital natural resource. She explores the potential for conflict over water between nations, and between urban and rural residents. And she offers a sensible way out of such struggles. Last Oasis makes clear that the technologies and know-how exist to increase the productivity of every liter of water. But citizens must first understand the issues and insist on policies, laws, and institutions that promote the sustainable use of water. .
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The history of capitalism has long been thought to be a sequence of recurring crises that appear in various forms: crises in employing people, crises in obtaining resources, and financial crises. Marx's Crises Theory: Scarcity, Labor, and Finance provides a framework for interpreting Marx's theory of crises. In conclusion, the author asserts that as long as the financial structure leads to periodic breakdowns, Marx's writings on the subject will retain their importance as a source of theory and analysis of the dynamics of political economy..
Price: $60.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"An excellent book. The editors are to be congratulated for assembling an impressive group of contributors, for framing the topic just right, and for making the volume coherent and fluent. Its strength is in giving the historical perspective and showing that the different views have a basis in both fact and theory."—Scott Barrett, Johns Hopkins University
"A popular theme that won't go away. The book includes interesting new topics and reflects the analytical progress that the discipline of economics has made in the last two decades. The variety exhibited by the papers will also make the book useful for an audience extending beyond economics; for example, to public affairs."—Gardner Brown, University of Washington
In this volume, a group of distinguished international scholars provides a fresh investigation of the most fundamental issues involved in our dependence on natural resources. In Scarcity and Growth (1963) and Scarcity and Growth Reconsidered (1979), researchers considered the long-term implications of resource scarcity for economic growth and human well-being. Scarcity and Growth Revisited examines these implications with 25 years of new learning and experience. It finds that concerns about resource scarcity have changed in essential ways.
In contrast with the earlier preoccupation with the adequacy of fuel, mineral, and agricultural resources and the efficiency by which they are allocated, the greatest concern today is about the Earth's limited capacity to handle the environmental consequences of resource extraction and use. Opinion among scholars is divided on the ability of technological innovation to ameliorate this "new scarcity." However, even the book's more optimistic authors agree that the problems will not be successfully overcome without significant advances in the legal, financial and other social institutions that protect the environment and support technical innovation.
Scarcity and Growth Revisited incorporates expert perspectives from the physical and life sciences, as well as economics. It includes issues confronting the developing world as well as advanced industrialized societies.
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Price: $23.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

To successfully upgrade from scarcity and struggle to Abundance and ease, we must interrupt and dislodge old patterns that have been living quite comfortably within us, acting like they own the place. These old patterns are like a cat that likes to sleep on your head but isn’t the least bit interested in the fact that you are allergic. It’s time to move the cat. A little discomfort can end a lifetime of suffering..
Price: $9.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

You can grow your own food!

"With some, the home vegetable garden is a hobby; with others, especially in these days of high prices, a great help. There are many in both classes whose experience in gardening has been restricted within very narrow bounds, and whose present spare time for gardening is limited. It is as 'first aid' to such persons, who want to do practical, efficient gardening, and do it with the least possible fuss and loss of time, that this book is written."

- From the Introduction -

For those who understand the significance of home-grown foods to surviving and thriving in difficult times, F. F. Rockwell's no-nonsense HOME VEGETABLE GARDENING: A COMPLETE AND PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE PLANTING AND CARE OF ALL VEGETABLES, FRUITS AND BERRIES WORTH GROWING FOR HOME USE, may be the best single volume, practical manual of family-feeding, high-yield home gardening ever compiled..
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No one will deny that we live in a world where evil exists. But how are we to come to grips with human atrocity and its diabolical intensity? Martin Beck Matustík considers evil to be even more radically evil than previously thought and to have become all too familiar in everyday life. While we can name various moral wrongs and specific cruelties, Matustík maintains that radical evil understood as a religious phenomenon requires a religious response where the language of hope, forgiveness, redemption, and love can take us beyond unspeakable harm and irreparable violence. Drawing upon the work of Kant, Schelling, Kierkegaard, Levinas, Derrida, and Marion, this work is written as a series of meditations. Matustík presents a bold new way of dealing with one of humanity's most intractable problems..
Price: $17.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]